The big day has arrived! We had some champagne
donated for the event, which also calmed our nerves, and, as there was
no-one else around, Gena got some shots of me spraying it over the hull. I
was never one big for ceremonies, and Gena even less, but I'm glad we did.
Who knows what we might think a year from now in some treacherous sea? With
no christening? Will she hold it against us at the first opportunity?

The lift came around the boat, furling stay
off, everything forward of the mast pulled back and secured, and straps laid
in place.

Slowly she went up off of the stands, and down
the ramp on her merry way to her element, the waters of the Pacific.

Andrew, the lift operator/owner, was very
gentle with her compared to the rough, hard working fishing boats we have
seen continually go by now that a fishing ban has been lifted. We could tell
he has done this uncountable times before.

The video below makes that apparent. Slowly he
eases her over the launch, and almost imperceptively lowers her towards the
water. Once the deck was at the same height as the launch dock, he asks Gena
to climb aboard to hand out lines etc.

The boats keel touches water, then the prop,
then the hull, and finally the waterline. Oh no! where is the waterline
going? Is she floating yet?
Suddenly, she turns a bit, and to our relief, she floats! The waterline is
low on the aft, but she floats.

After we moved tons of stuff out from under the
berth and replaced it with lighter stuff, then moved the lead stored aft
forward, she leveled out some. About 1200 lbs of lead would eventually be
taken out. Looks like we overdid it a bit there!

What a thing of beauty! Our boat, our Dulcie-Darlene
is finally here, where she belongs!

Stepping aboard her she felt solid, not tippy
like other boats we'd been on. Looking out of the portlights and seeing
water so close took some getting used to. The motion of the boat that night
was also noted, but felt somehow satisfying. We had a few more swigs of
champagne, then I prepared supper, and we wandered around checking for leaks
so we could sleep comfortably.

The maiden voyage, and shakedown, is next. The
riggers will be coming over to check everything out, then off we go for a
run around the strait.